St. Vincent (album)

St. Vincent
Studio album by St. Vincent
Released February 24, 2014 (2014-02-24)
Recorded 2013
Studio Elmwood Studios
(Dallas, Texas)
Genre
Length 40:04
Label Caroline International, Loma Vista/Republic
Producer John Congleton[4]
St. Vincent chronology
Brass Tactics
(2013)		 St. Vincent
(2014)
Singles from St. Vincent
  1. "Birth in Reverse"
    Released: December 10, 2013
  2. "Digital Witness"
    Released: January 6, 2014
  3. "Prince Johnny"
    Released: May 9, 2014
  4. "Regret"
    Released: August 18, 2014[5]
  5. "Bad Believer"
    Released: January 20, 2015[6]
Deluxe Edition

St. Vincent is the fourth studio album by American musician St. Vincent. It was released on February 24, 2014 in the United Kingdom and February 25 in the United States through Loma Vista and Republic Records.[7][8][9] Produced by John Congleton, it features collaborations with Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings drummer Homer Steinweiss and Midlake drummer McKenzie Smith. The tracks were arranged and demoed by Annie Clark in Austin, Texas and recorded at the Elmwood studio in Dallas.[4][10]

Critically acclaimed on its release, the album won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album, making St. Vincent only the second female solo artist to win the award since its inception in 1991, when it was awarded to Sinéad O'Connor.

Background

"This is a more primary colour record than I've done in the past. It's generally a bit brighter. It was less emotionally fraught than when I was writing Strange Mercy. There's an exuberance in Love This Giant, and maybe some of that carried on into this record. It's entertainment. It's fun… I did a lot of sketching for St Vincent in GarageBand before going into the studio. The process of actually recording it was less about discovery and putting the Frankenstein's monster together, and a bit more about execution. There were a lot of things that had already been decided long before I walked into the studio. It was a different experience than Strange Mercy or Actor. Recording took about six months all in, around May 2013. John and I usually work every day and take maybe one day off every ten or twelve days." – Annie "St. Vincent" Clark[11]

Release

St. Vincent was announced on December 9, 2013, and "Birth in Reverse" was released for free download.[4][8] A second single, "Digital Witness", was released on January 6, 2014.[12] An additional release of "Digital Witness", featuring "Del Rio" as a B-side, was released in the United Kingdom on January 24, 2014.

A music video directed by Chino Moya was released on January 31, 2014 for "Digital Witness".[13][14] On February 5, Clark debuted "Prince Johnny" on the radio show KCRW: Morning Becomes Eclectic. On February 9, Clark debuted songs at fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg's runway show for New York's Fashion Week.[15] A music video directed by Willo Perron was released on December 16, 2014 for "Birth In Reverse".[16]

St. Vincent entered the US Billboard 200 albums chart at number 12 and the UK Albums Chart at number 21, becoming St. Vincent's highest charting album in both countries.[17][18]

A deluxe edition was released on February 9, 2015 in the U.K. with the album being available only for digital download in the U.S. on February 10. It featured the previously unreleased "Bad Believer"; "Del Rio," a b-side from the "Digital Witness" single and a bonus track on the Japanese edition of St. Vincent; "Digital Witness" (DARKSIDE Remix), previously released as a single; and "Pietà" and "Sparrow", originally released together on a limited edition 10" pink vinyl on 28 November 2014 for Record Store Day. [19]

Music

Clark described St. Vincent as "a party record you could play at a funeral."[20] The opening "Rattlesnake" is about an experience Clark had when walking in the desert, which she described as a "commune with nature". However, the opening line "I followed the power lines back from the road", suggests that Clark is separating herself from her dependency on artificial or digital power.[21]

Other songs have more personal connections. "I Prefer Your Love", the sixth track, is about Clark's mother, who was briefly ill.[21] The closing "Severed Crossed Fingers" takes inspiration from a line from one of American novelist Lorrie Moore's short stories.[22] The sentence from which the title is taken – "He thinks of severed, crossed fingers found perfectly survived in the wreckage of a local plane crash last year",[23] – is used by Clark to demonstrate the human heart's ability to have hope, even when none is present. Clark said of the song, "That one's all me" in an interview with Studio 360.[24] Later, in an interview with Pitchfork, Clark explained "I sang that in one fucking take, cried my eyes out, and the song was done".[25]

Clark said she felt St. Vincent was "more confident. I'm extending a hand; I want to connect with people. Strange Mercy, which is a record I'm proud of, [was] definitely a very accurate record of my life at a certain time, but it was more about self-laceration, all the sort of internal struggle. St. Vincent is very extroverted."[26]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic89/100[27]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[28]
The A.V. ClubA−[1]
The Daily Telegraph[29]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[30]
The Guardian[31]
The Independent[32]
NME8/10[33]
Pitchfork Media8.6/10[34]
Rolling Stone[35]
Spin8/10[36]

The album has received universal critical acclaim. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, it scored a mean score of 89/100 based on 40 independent reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[27] AnyDecentMusic? collated reviews giving the album an average score of 8.6 based upon 40 reviews.[37] This score makes the record part of AnyDecentMusic?'s All-Time Top 10 albums.[38] Writing for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis awarded the album a perfect five stars, calling it "an embarrassment of fantastic songs" and "a straightforward triumph".[31]

At Rolling Stone, Jon Dolan awarded the album four stars out of five, hailing it as "her tightest, tensest, best set of songs to date, with wry, twisty beats pushing her lovably ornery melodies toward grueling revelations" and noting that "the playful way these songs contort makes pain feel like a party."[35] Alex Denny of The Fly rated the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, describing it as "her most ebullient, ambitiously styled music to date".[39] NME, The Guardian, musicOMH, Entertainment Weekly and Slant Magazine named it the best album of 2014.

Accolades

Publication Rank List
Gigwise 1 Gigwise's 50 Best Albums of 2014[40]
American Songwriter 21 Top 50 Albums of 2014[41]
The A.V. Club 3 The 20 Best Albums of 2014[42]
Cosmopolitan 20 20 Best Albums of 2014[43]
The Daily Telegraph 16 Best 50 Albums of 2014[44]
Guardian 1 Best Albums of 2014[45]
Mojo 5 50 Best Albums of 2014[46]
musicOMH 1 Top 100 Albums of 2014[47]
NME 1 Top 50 Albums of 2014 [48]
Pitchfork 16 Top 50 Best Albums of 2014[49]
PopMatters 4 The 80 Best Albums of 2014[50]
Rolling Stone 4 50 Best Albums of 2014[51]
Slant Magazine 1 25 Best Albums of 2014[52]
Spin 26 50 Best Albums of 2014[53]
Stereogum 49 The 50 Best Albums of 2014[54]
TIME 2 Top 10 Best Albums of 2014[55]
Entertainment Weekly 1 10 Best Albums of 2014[56]

St. Vincent won Best Alternative Music Album at the 57th Grammy Awards in 2015.[57]

Track listing

All tracks written by Annie Clark. 

No. Title Length
1. "Rattlesnake"   3:34
2. "Birth in Reverse"   3:15
3. "Prince Johnny"   4:36
4. "Huey Newton"   4:37
5. "Digital Witness"   3:21
6. "I Prefer Your Love"   3:36
7. "Regret"   3:21
8. "Bring Me Your Loves"   3:15
9. "Psychopath"   3:32
10. "Every Tear Disappears"   3:15
11. "Severed Crossed Fingers"   3:42
Total length:
 40:04
Japanese bonus track[58]
No. Title Length
12. "Del Rio"   2:55
Deluxe edition bonus tracks[59]
No. Title Length
12. "Bad Believer"   2:58
13. "Pieta"   3:29
14. "Sparrow"   3:55
15. "Del Rio"   2:55
16. "Digital Witness" (DARKSIDE Remix) 4:20

Personnel

Technical personnel
Design

Release history

Country Date Label
United Kingdom[10] February 24, 2014 Loma Vista/Republic
United States[10] February 25, 2014
Japan February 26, 2014 Loma Vista

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[60] 54
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[61] 37
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[62] 64
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[63] 15
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[64] 18
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[65] 41
French Albums (SNEP)[66] 200
Italian Albums (FIMI)[67] 58
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[68] 231
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[69] 70
UK Albums (OCC)[70] 21
US Billboard 200[71] 12
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[72] 3
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[73] 4

Year-end charts

Chart (2014) Position
US Top Rock Albums[74] 64
US Alternative Albums (Billboard)[75] 42

References

  1. 1 2 Wild, Matt (February 25, 2014). "St. Vincent completes Annie Clark's transformation into art-rock pop star". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  2. ↑ "In Conversation: St Vincent". Clash. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "The 20 best albums of 2014". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 Phillips, Amy and Evan Minsker (December 9, 2013). "St. Vincent Announces Self-Titled Album, Shares "Birth in Reverse"". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  5. ↑ "St Vincent Regret 2 Track Promo CD saint". eBay.
  6. ↑ David Renshaw (20 January 2015). "NME News St Vincent unveils new song 'Bad Believer' – listen - NME.COM". NME.COM.
  7. ↑ Danton, Eric (December 9, 2013). "St. Vincent Readies New Album for February Release". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  8. 1 2 "St. Vincent announces new album, stream "Birth In Reverse"". Consequence of Sound. December 9, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  9. ↑ Dombal, Ryan. Reckless Perfection. Pitchfork Media. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 McGovern, Kyle (December 9, 2013). "St. Vincent Confirms New Self-Titled Album With Groove-Warped 'Birth in Reverse'". Spin. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  11. ↑ Pinnock, Tom (January 2015). "Album by Album: St Vincent". Uncut: 55.
  12. ↑ Battan, Carrie (6 January 2014). "Listen: St. Vincent: 'Digital Witness'". Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  13. ↑ de Revere, Paul. "St. Vincent Shares her Paranoia in 'Digital Witness' Video". Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  14. ↑ Hogan, Marc. "Watch St. Vincent's Gloriously Coiffed 'Digital Witness' Dystopia". SPIN. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  15. ↑ Breihan, Tom. "St. Vincent To Debut Songs At Diane Von Furstenberg Runway Show". Stereogum. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  16. ↑ Camp, Zoe. "St. Vincent Shares "Birth In Reverse" Video". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  17. ↑ St. Vincent - St. Vincent. Billboard.com. Retrieved 12 March 2014
  18. ↑ UK Top 40 Official Albums Chart 8th March 2014. Theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved 12 March 2014
  19. ↑ "St. Vincent Announces St. Vincent Deluxe Edition, Expands World Tour". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  20. ↑ Phillips, Amy; Minsker, Evan (December 9, 2013). "St. Vincent Announces Self-Titled Album, Shares "Birth in Reverse"". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  21. 1 2 Hilton, Robin; Boilen, Bob (January 8, 2014). "Ambien Dreams And Naked Desert Walks: St. Vincent On Her New Album". All Songs Considered. NPR. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  22. ↑ "St. Vincent - St. Vincent". DIY. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  23. ↑ Moore, Lorrie (Dec 22, 2010). The Collected Stories of Lorrie Moore. Faber & Faber. ISBN 0571268323. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  24. ↑ "St. Vincent Becomes St. Vincent". Studio 360. February 14, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  25. ↑ Dombal, Ryan (February 17, 2014). "St Vincent: Reckless Precision". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  26. ↑ Maloney, Devon (26 February 2014). "St. Vincent Has Crafted a Magnificent Mythology on Her Own Terms". Village Voice. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  27. 1 2 "Reviews for St. Vincent by St. Vincent". Metacritic. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  28. ↑ Phares, Heather. "St. Vincent – St. Vincent". AllMusic. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  29. ↑ Brown, Helen (February 27, 2014). "St Vincent, album review". The Independent. London. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  30. ↑ Catucci, Nick (February 21, 2014). "Albums: February 28, 2014". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  31. 1 2 Petridis, Alexis (February 13, 2014). "St Vincent: St Vincent – review". The Guardian. London. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  32. ↑ Gill, Andy (February 21, 2014). "St Vincent's new album 'St Vincent', review". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on March 14, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  33. ↑ Sheffield, Hazel (February 21, 2014). "St Vincent – 'St Vincent'". NME. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  34. ↑ Zoladz, Lindsay (February 24, 2014). "St. Vincent: St. Vincent". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  35. 1 2 Dolan, Jon (February 25, 2014). "St. Vincent". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  36. ↑ Hopper, Jessica (February 24, 2014). "Annie Clark Burns Down the Boys' Club on the Poised, Effortless 'St. Vincent'". Spin. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  37. ↑ "St Vincent by St Vincent reviews - Any Decent Music".
  38. ↑ "All-Time Top 10 albums". Any decent music?.
  39. ↑ Denney, Alex (February 14, 2014). "St Vincent – 'St Vincent'". The Fly. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  40. ↑ Gigwise (December 3, 2014). "Gigwise's 50 Best Albums of 2014". Gigwise. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  41. ↑ American Songwriter (November 24, 2014). "American Songwriter's Top 50 Albums of 2014". American Songwriter. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  42. ↑ A.V. Club (December 9, 2014). "The A.V. Club 20 Best Albums of 2014". American Songwriter. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  43. ↑ Cosmopolitan (December 3, 2014). "Cosmo's 20 Best Albums of 2014". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  44. ↑ The Telegraph (November 27, 2014). "Best 50 Albums of 2014". AllMusic. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  45. ↑ The Guardian (November 26, 2014). "Guardian Best Albums of 2014". The Guardian. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  46. ↑ "MOJO's 50 Best Albums of 2014: The Final Score". Mojo. November 21, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  47. ↑ musicOMH (December 6, 2014). "musicOMH's Top 100 Albums of 2014". musicOMH. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  48. ↑ NME (November 29, 2014). "NME's Top 50 Albums of 2014". NME. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  49. ↑ Pitchfork staff (December 17, 2014). "The 50 Best Albums of 2014". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  50. ↑ PopMatters (December 8, 2014). "The 80 Best Albums of 2014". PopMatters. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  51. ↑ Rolling Stone Staff (December 1, 2014). "50 Best Albums of 2014". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  52. ↑ Slant Staff (December 11, 2014). "The 25 Best Albums of 2014". SPIN. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  53. ↑ SPIN Staff (December 9, 2014). "Spin's 50 Best Albums of 2014". SPIN. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  54. ↑ Stereogum (December 2, 2014). "The 50 Best Albums of 2014". Stereogum. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  55. ↑ TIME (December 3, 2014). "TIME's Top 10 Best Albums of 2014". TIME. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  56. ↑ Entertainment Weekly (December 3, 2014). "Entertainment Weekly's 10 Best Albums of 2014". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  57. ↑ Clark, Annie (February 8, 2015). "St. Vincent Talks Best Alternative Music Album Grammy Win" (Interview). Interview with Jeremy Gordon. Pitchfork. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  58. ↑ "PV of "Digital Witness" the public of new St. Vincent from "St. Vincent"". Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  59. ↑ "St. Vincent's 2014 self-titled album given deluxe re-release". DIY. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  60. ↑ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 3 March 2014" (PDF) (1253). Australian Recording Industry Association. Pandora Archive. March 3, 2014. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
  61. ↑ "Ultratop.be – St. Vincent – St. Vincent" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  62. ↑ "Ultratop.be – St. Vincent – St. Vincent" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  63. ↑ "St. Vincent – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for St. Vincent. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  64. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – St. Vincent – St. Vincent". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  65. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – St. Vincent – St. Vincent" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  66. ↑ "Lescharts.com – St. Vincent – St . Vincent". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  67. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – St. Vincent – St . Vincent". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  68. ↑ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2014-03-10" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  69. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – St. Vincent – St . Vincent". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  70. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  71. ↑ "St. Vincent – Chart history" Billboard 200 for St. Vincent.
  72. ↑ "St. Vincent – Chart history" Billboard Top Alternative Albums for St. Vincent. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  73. ↑ "St. Vincent – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for St. Vincent. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  74. ↑ "Top Rock Albums: Year End 2014". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  75. ↑ "Alternative Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Retrieved 16 January 2015. (subscription required)

External links

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